In People v. Sapia (41 NY2d 160 [1976]) the Court of Appeals held that a witness had properly asserted a Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify based on a possible perjury charge, stating that there was "substance to the argument that the witness' proposed testimony would have been so inconsistent with prior statements he had made to Federal authorities as to expose him to conviction for perjury." (41 NY2d at 164.)